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This page is extraordinarily out-of-date, so peruse at your own risk.
Quests are my ongoing searches for the best ______ in and around Boston (and occasionally elsewhere). Often aided by my trusty dining companions and guest bloggers, I've been busily searching, tasting, re-tasting, and re-re-tasting (and going to the gym). Lots of posts are coming soon; check this page for updates. Current quests:

Cupcakes

One day, my coworkers and I had a sudden craving for cupcakes around 3pm. We had already taken a long lunch, so we resisted the urge to go on an expedition, but the craving kept coming back nearly every day around the same time, stronger and stronger. Finally, the Cupcake Quest was born. We only have a few options within a short walk from the office - Shaw's, Finale, and perhaps a few others farther away - so our questing has extended to nights, weekends, and vacations. We will stop at nothing to find the perfect cupcakes in and around Boston, as well as wherever else we may find ourselves. Some days, we even go on double quests. If you enjoy reading about our cupcake quests, please consider buying us a gym membership. (Just kidding...kind of.)

In this quest, we'll explore things like frosting-to-cake ratio, frosting adhesion, toxic frosticity, moist/dry, and a whole lot more. There are no rules: we're not limiting ourselves to tasting one plain vanilla cupcake at each location. We'll get whatever looks good...or maybe two or three.

Burgers and Cupcakes (NYC) (I went there a few years ago...before I was officially cupcake questing. Need to revisit!)

CupCapes (Falmouth, MA)

Babycakes (Quincy, MA) (So many people recommend this one to me!)

Sugar Bakery (West Roxbury, MA)

Billy's Bakery (NYC)

Sin Cupcakes (Malden, MA)

Wild Orchid Bakery (NH)

Cupcake Charlie's (Mashpee, MA)

Cupcake Cafe (NYC)

Crumbs (NYC)

Georgetown Cupcake (DC)

French Onion Soup

Cheesy, oniony, wonderful. The more the cheese melts over the edges of the crock, the better!

Posted:
None yet!

Already visited; need to write up:

American Craft (amazing the first time, terrible the second time - must revisit)

Marliave (with braised short ribs! omg)

Corrib Pub (best cheap pub-style one so far)

Bistro du Midi (one of the best so far)

Asana (bonus points for creative presentation)

The Asgard (this one had leeks - yum!)

Nordstrom's Cafe (pretty decent)

Black Horse Tavern (Bridgton, ME)

Red Fox (near Jackson, NH)

Want to visit:
I don't know! Where do you like to get French onion soup in Boston?

Cider Donuts

Cider donuts are the greatest thing in the world. I haven't had them in Boston yet, but they've been known to make appearances at farmers' markets and Sportello. This quest isn't necessarily to find the best cider donuts in Boston, but just to find cider donuts, period. I first tasted them at the Gathering of the Vibes music festival in Connecticut last summer, and they were amazing.

A different type of quest! This is my attempt to immerse myself in the cultural and historical context of food as well as learning the basics of cooking. I'll be using online courses, reading books, and maybe taking some real-world courses involving all aspects of food, and I'll report back here about what I've learned. Hopefully you can learn something too!

Coming Soon:
Mother Sauces
Knife Skills

If you have any suggestions for places where I can find the best cupcakes, French onion soup, or cider donuts in/around Boston, or resources I can use to learn about food, leave a comment and I'll be sure to check it out if I haven't already!

5 comments:

Ahh cupcakes. If Lulu's wasn't out of business (bought by Finale?) I'd give it to them hands down! There are so so many cupcakes and so so little time. My curernt favorite is Petsi's (two Cambridge locations: Putnam Ave, and Beacon St-Sumvl by the SHaws). Petsi's advertises other things so her cupcakes are a little known secret. She makes them the way I like -- with frosting SPREAD on top rather than plopped on from a tube.. which Kick Ass and Sweet and everyone else does. They are rather large esp. compared with aforementioned, but have balanced cake:frosting ratio due to spreading method perhaps. Coconut is a specialty (damn...haven't had one in years. now you got me thinking!) and vanilla/vanilla is just great! Meanwhile you might try Flour (also 2 locations) if you haven't, I don't think I've had her cupcakes. But um... well... recently went two days in a row for breakfast sandwich (Fri DINNER and Sat Lunch) plus fiery hotchocolate, won't even try to describe here.

Thanks for the suggestions, Sarah! I've been meaning to make it over to Flour for ages. I've almost gone to the Fort Point one a few times, but I rarely find myself in that part of town unless I'm at Sportello and Drink, so I'm always full by the time I think of going to Flour! I think I'm closer to one of the other locations, though. I just drove by Petsi's the other day and realized that it's walking distance from my boyfriend's apartment, so that might be next on my list :) Fiery hot chocolate sounds amazing...I must try this.

I see Lyndells is on your list. I was NOT a fan of their cupcakes. Lulu's cupcakes were awesome, but i have yet to pop in since they re-opened on Salem St. Feel free to check out my Lyndell's review!http://indulgeinspireimbibe.blogspot.com/2010/05/ditch-friend-marry.html